"Treme" writer Pelecanos introduces a new hero in "The Cut"

As a writer/producer for HBO's "Treme," a movie developer and the acclaimed author of 17 thrillers chronicling the tough underbelly of Washington, D.C., George Pelecanos has an impressive work ethic.

Paul Schiraldi/HBOGeorge Pelecanos.

His latest novel is "The Cut." This finely honed tale, which received a coveted starred review in the trade magazine Publisher's Weekly, is the first in a planned new series introducing
ex-Marine and Iraq veteran Spero Lucas, an investigator for a criminal
defense attorney.

If Pelecanos holds true to form, the new series is likely to end after three or four books.

"I don't think it's credible after awhile to have a series when people involved in violent acts don't carry any psychological scars from it," he said in a phone interview from his Washington, D.C., home. "I always felt I should get off the stage when it's time to get off the stage. James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly can manage to write good books from the first one to the 15th. But I don't feel like I can."

Pelecanos exposes his new hero to lots of violence in "The Cut." Lucas' job is to recover missing things in exchange for a cut of their value. Because some of those things become attached to outrageously violent people, Lucas must use any means necessary to make things right.

In one case, Lucas is hired to find drug-filled packages that have gone missing.

Bodies mount as the tough and battle-ready Lucas draws on his combat experience to assure his client won't be fooled again.

But Pelecanos does more than spill blood in "The Cut." With his stripped-down, literary style, Pelecanos crafts sensitive in-depth portraits of Lucas and other Iraq veterans -- some with visible wounds and others with hidden scars -- as he explores their need to find a sense of mission that matches the one they left in Iraq.

"There's a lot of men and women out here like me," Lucas tells a girlfriend. "We've been through this war and we just look at things differently than other people our age ... I woke up one day and knew that I was never gonna have a college degree or wear a tie to work. I was coming up on 30 years old and I realized, I've fallen through the cracks. But I'm luckier than some people I know. I've found something I like to do. My eyes are open in the morning and I have purpose."

Lucas' caring side is often on display as well in "The Cut," whether mentoring a high school student or having frequent dinners with his multi-ethnic family members. "Lucas is a good guy, but he's been compromised by his time in Iraq. Marines do two things ---- they're trained to kill, and they protect their brothers. His antagonists underestimate this guy, and that's why he can surprise them," Pelecanos said.

At its base, Pelecanos' work is always about redemption, about what it means to be a man. For him, the Lucas series is "an existentialist look at the crime novel."

To develop his story, Pelecanos said, he contacted ex-Marine investigators who "go into rough neighborhoods and talk to people who mostly don't want to be talked to. They're not ready to sit behind a desk."

At 54, Pelecanos is considerably older than his 29-year-old protagonist, but both are avid bike riders and kayakers. "That's how I found locations for much of the book," he explained. Pelecanos, who has won a trunkful of awards, didn't plan on a writer's career.

"I wanted to write one novel," he said. "I had no training, but I had a story to tell, so I tried it."

Pelecanos has been writing for two decades, and all of his books are set in his native Washington.

"I'm trying to leave a record of this town, and that's my number one job," he said. "The way I stretch and get out of D.C. is through TV and movie work."

Pelecanos' work for "Treme" brings him to New Orleans from October until May.

"I can't wait to get back down there. The city is in my blood now. 'Treme' started out just being a job for me, but when I got home from season two last spring, I felt sort of an emptiness. It was a strange thing. Of all the things I've done in television, this is the most enjoyable job I ever had.

"As ('Treme' executive producer) David Simon says, we want to show America why New Orleans is worth saving. We take it seriously."

Pelecanos is also a major music fan, and he recounted a favorite moment on the "Treme" set:

"We were shooting all day with Dr. John, Ron Carter, all the greats. We had to stop and move the lights, and Dr. John just started playing 'You Might Be Surprised.' We stopped working and listened. It was just him on the piano. That was worth the whole job down there -- just to be there when he played that song."

After working hours, Pelecanos also explores the New Orleans music scene.

"I was just amazed on any given night to walk into virtually any club and have a good time and see a good band," he said. "I'm a middle-aged white guy in jeans and a plain white T-shirt. I have all these things going against me. I would never get into clubs in New York or Miami dressed like this. But in the clubs on Frenchmen Street, the doormen don't look me over, the young people don't think 'What are you doing here, granddad?'

"You can be who you want to be here, and that's really attractive to me."